Hudson is on the threshold of change. But who will lead it?

As members of Montreal’s city council set to the task on Tuesday of picking a new interim mayor after the arrest and resignation of Michael Applebaum, I wondered how a similar vote in Hudson will go.

Hudson town councillors will have to vote to pick an interim mayor among the remaining five members of council after the resignation last week of mayor Michael Elliott.

Who is up for the job? Better yet: Who would want it?

According to law, since the next municipal election is scheduled for this fall, a byelection to fill the mayor’s seat is not necessary. The councillors must select the new mayor from among their ranks. They will make this decision next week.

Hudson is facing a lot of issues, the biggest is the Sûreté du Québec investigation into alleged misappropriation of funds at town hall. But there are dozens of other issues that are perhaps less dramatic but when piled one on top of the other amount to a staggering challenge. And as each one is dealt with, the extent of the problems will be surprising.

Just for starters: Hudson’s budgeting process will have to be revamped. Somehow the municipality has gotten away with not producing a triennial plan every year. Start scratching the surface on how that has been allowed to happen and you will discover all sorts of problems.

Then, of course, there is the head-scratcher that is why some property owners were allowed to simply not pay taxes in the past. How was this done and why? Did some at Hudson town hall think that the rules did not apply to them? That they have the discretion to bend them?

And, I’m sure the SQ, will be looking into how contracts were handled.

Given all this, is there anyone on council right now who would even want the mayor’s job for the next four months?

Whoever does pull the short straw should be prepared to answer a lot of tough questions in the coming months. As the saying goes, the jig is up in Hudson. It’s time to come clean. And that means being willing to focus a little light on what has been going on for too long at town hall.

Come the fall, the interim mayor will have to step aside. Whoever has been part of the old guard has to make way for sweeping changes. Hudson has to modernize and grow in character. It has to let go of the old mindset that it can do things “the Hudson way,” holding on to the notion that it’s small-town ways are charming and quaint. They’re not. The people of Hudson – all of them – deserve a fresh start.

Sometimes you can make improvement by renovating. But sometimes there is just too much damage to fix. You have to stop renovating and build new.

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